Balloon, cap structure of balloon, balloon storage box and balloon vending machine

ABSTRACT

The invention is to provide a balloon cap structure that permits automatic inflation of a balloon with gas; a balloon that is provided with the cap structure and can be prevented from flying away after being inflated with gas for buoyancy; a balloon storage box for storing such balloons; and a balloon vending machine from which the balloons can be automatically dispensed one by one for distribution or for sale.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a balloon vending machine, a balloonmade as of aluminum to be stored in the balloon vending machine, a capstructure of the balloon, and a balloon storage box.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally known balloons are rubber ones whose surfaces are coloredor printed with various patterns, letters or the like for the purpose ofadvertisement or publicity. The rubber balloons are inflated with heliumor similar gas to great volumes, but uninflated balloons are compact andoccupy little space for storage before use; hence, the balloons have theadvantage of space savings.

When hitting a snag, however, the rubber balloon may sometimes burstwith comparative ease. On this account, when used for advertising orpublicity, the balloon has the disadvantage that the short service lifewill weaken the effectiveness of advertising or publicity.

On the other hand, attention is recently focused on aluminum (forexample, ? ylar) balloons harder to burst than the rubber balloon. Thereis known an aluminum balloon of the type that is comprised mainly of: analuminum balloon body which is inflated with helium or similar gas intosubstantially spherical form; a tube extending from one portion of theballoon body and closed at the free end; a gas inlet port made in thetube intermediately of the latter; and a check valve disposed in thetube intermediate the gas inlet port and the balloon body. This balloonis designed such that, when removing a gas injector of a gas cylinderfrom the gas inlet port after blowing a predetermined amount of gas intothe balloon body from the gas cylinder, the check valve closes toprevent leakage of gas; thus, the balloon is free from the need for gasinlet port closing means, and hence it is easy to use accordingly.

After being inflated with gas to provide buoyancy, the aluminum balloonof this kind is prevented from flying away by use of a string, wire orsimilar cord attached to the tube of the balloon. Despite using the cordto prevent the balloon from flying away, however, since the gas filledin the balloon is usually lighter than air, there is a fear that if careis not taken, the cord readily slips away from a user's hand, allowingthe balloon to go up high and fly away, impairing advertising orpublicity effectiveness.

Furthermore, since no vending machine is available from which aluminumballoons can be dispensed one by one, it is necessary, at present, toinflate them with gas one by one for distribution or for sale.

The inventor and applicant of this application have diligently searchedfor patent or non-patent documents on conventional balloon vendingmachines relevant to the present invention, but they have not found suchdocuments at the time of filing this application.

The present invention is intended to solve such problems as listedbelow.

The invention is to provide: a balloon cap structure that permitsautomatic inflation of a balloon with gas; a balloon that is providedwith the cap structure and can be prevented from flying away after beinginflated with gas for buoyancy; a balloon storage box for storing suchballoons; and a balloon vending machine from which the balloons can bedispensed one by one for distribution or for sale.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The cap structure for a balloon according to the present inventioncomprises: a metal balloon body to be inflated with gas intosubstantially spherical form; a tube extending from one portion of thesaid balloon body, communicating with the inside of said balloon bodyand closed at the free end; a gas inlet made in said tube; and a checkvalve disposed in said tube intermediate said gas inlet and said balloonbody; further including a gas injecting cap detachably mounted on saidgas inlet port, and a cord fixed at one end to said cap and at the otherend to said tube.

With the above cap structure, the balloon can efficiently be inflatedwith gas injected thereinto through the cap, and the balloon renderedbuoyant by the injected gas can be efficiently prevented from flyingaway by the cord and the cap removed from the balloon.

The cap structure for the balloon according to the present invention hasthe above construction in which said cap includes a substantiallycylindrical cap body, a gas injection port made in said cap bodycentrally thereof, and a cord winding portion formed about the peripheryof said cap body, and when said cap is removed from said gas inlet port,said gas injection port of said cap serves as finger grip means forholding said balloon through said cord unwound from said cord windingportion.

With the above arrangement, the gas injection port of the cap removedfrom the balloon of which gas pressure is maintained by the check valveafter injection of gas serves as finger grip means, by which the ballooncan be held through the cord, making it possible to effectively preventthe gas-filled and hence buoyant balloon from flying away.

The cap structure for the balloon according to the present invention hasthe above construction in which said cap body of said cap has a planarend face on one side facing said tube and a planar end face on the otherside opposite from said tube.

With the above arrangement, in the case of stacking caps of multipleballoons, it is possible to store many stacked balloons in a smallspace.

The cap structure for the balloon according to the present inventionfurther includes, in the above construction, a seal sandwiched betweensaid cap and said tube. A first adhesive layer is formed on one side ofsaid seal for detachably attaching said cap to said tube, and a secondadhesive layer is formed on the other side of said seal for fixing theother end of said cord to said tube.

With the above arrangement, by distinguishing the adhesive for bondingthe tube of the balloon and the cap, and the adhesive for bonding thetube of the balloon and the cord, it is possible to select the adhesivecorresponding to the adhesion strength required for each bonding.

The cap structure for the balloon according to the present invention hasthe above construction in which said seal includes an annular sealingmember of about the same shape as said one-side end face of said capbody of said cap and having first and second adhesive layers, and a tabextending from said sealing member and having formed thereon only saidsecond adhesive layer.

With the above arrangement, such reduced area of bonding between theseal and the cap facilitates the removal of the cap from the tube of theballoon, while at the same time the increased area of bonding betweenthe seal and the cord makes it hard to disengage the cord from the tubeof the balloon.

The cap structure for the balloon according to the present invention hasthe above construction in which the other end of said cord is fixed tosaid tube by said second adhesive layer formed on said sealing member ofsaid seal and the portion of said cord in vicinity of said other endthereof is fixed to said tube by said second adhesive layer formed onsaid tab.

With the above arrangement, the other end portion of the cord can befirmly fixed to the tube of the balloon by the second adhesive layer ofthe tab, ensuring prevention of the balloon from flying away.Furthermore, since the other end portion of the cord is fixed to thesecond adhesive layer formed on both of the sealing member and the tab,the gas-filled and hence buoyant balloon can be held upright, by whichwhen the balloon bears displays for advertisement or publicity, theintended advertising or publicity effectiveness can fully be achieved.

The cap structure for the balloon according to the present invention hasthe above construction in which said cap has a groove indicating theposition where to stick said sealing member of said seal to said capbody by said first adhesive layer.

With the above arrangement, it is possible to accurately stick thesealing member of the seal to the cap body through utilization of thegroove, ensuring prevention of the gas inlet port of the balloon frompartial closure by misregistration of the seal.

The cap structure for the balloon according to the present invention hasthe above construction in which said cap has a notch made in said capbody and a cord hole for tying thereto one end of said cord in said cordwinding portion at a position accessible from said notch.

With the above arrangement, one end of the cord can easily tied to thecord hole during fabrication.

The cap structure for the balloon according to the present invention hasthe above construction in which said cap has a small-diameter potion forholding the tip end portion of a gas injector of a gas injection meansin said gas injection port.

With the above arrangement, when the tip end portion of the gas injectorof the gas injection means is inserted into the gas injection port ofthe cap, the gas can be introduced through the gas injector into the gasinlet port of the balloon to efficiently prevent leakage of gas.

The balloon according to the present invention has the above-describedcap structure.

With the above-described cap structure, it is possible to offer aballoon which can be inflated the by efficient injection thereinto ofgas through the cap and which can effectively be prevented by the capand the cord from flying away after inflated with gas for buoyancy.

The balloon storage box according to the present invention is designedso that such balloons as mentioned above are arranged in folded formwith their caps stacked.

With the above arrangement, it is possible to dispense the balloons oneby one in order of stacking from uppermost to lowermost. Further effectis that compact storage of the stacked balloons achieved by folding theballoons enables increase of the storage amount of the balloons.

The balloon vending machine according to the present invention isprovided with: balloon arrangement means for arranging multiple caps ofsaid balloons in registered form; balloon selecting means for selectingat least one of said balloons arranged by said balloon arrangementmeans; balloon transfer means for holding and transferring the cap ofsaid balloon selected by said balloon selecting means from said balloonarrangement means to a predetermined position; gas injection means forinjecting gas through said cap into said balloon transferred by saidballoon transfer means to said predetermined position; balloon receivingmean for receiving said cap of said balloon inflated with gas by saidgas injection means into substantially spherical form; balloondispensing means for dispensing said balloon held by said balloonreceiving means; and control means for controlling the operations ofsaid balloon transfer means, said gas injection means, said balloonreceiving means and said balloon dispensing means on the basis of theselection by said balloon selecting means.

With the above arrangement, it is possible to provide a balloon vendingmachine from which selected balloons can be taken out one by one ininflated form.

The balloon vending machine according to the present invention has theabove construction in which said balloon arrangement means arranges thecaps with the balloons stacked.

With the above arrangement, the balloons can be taken out one by one inorder of stacking.

The balloon vending machine according to the present invention has theabove construction in which said balloon arrangement means is providedwith a storage section in which folded balloons are arranged with saidcaps stacked.

With the above arrangement, the balloons can be taken out one by one inorder of stacking, and folded balloons stacked in layers can be storedcompactly, making it possible to increase the amount of storage ofballoons.

The balloon vending machine according to the present invention has theabove construction in which said balloon selecting means is providedwith a display panel for indicating display contents of balloonsarranged by said balloon arrangement means, and selecting operationparts corresponding to the display contents indicated on said displaypanel.

With the above arrangement, it is possible for a user to take out thedesired balloon without fail.

The balloon vending machine according to the present invention has theabove construction in which said balloon transfer means is provided witha cap holder which fits in the cap of the balloon, and said gasinjection means includes a gas injector formed integrally with said capholder of said balloon transfer means, a gas reservoir for storing gas,and a gas supply passage for supplying gas from said gas reservoir tosaid gas injector.

With the above arrangement, it is possible to ensure the injection ofgas into the balloon transferred by said balloon transfer means and toperform smooth and quick operations for transfer of the balloon andinjection of gas thereinto, permitting reduction of the user's waitingtime.

The balloon vending machine according to the present invention has theabove construction in which said balloon receiving means is providedwith a cap catching member for catching the balloon cap on the outerside thereof.

With the above arrangement, the balloon held by the balloon transfermeans can be gripped on the outside the cap, not the inside thereof.This permits smooth and fast transfer of the balloon from the balloontransfer means to the balloon receiving means, reducing the user'swaiting time.

The balloon vending machine according to the present invention has theabove construction in which said balloon dispensing means includes achamber for accommodating a substantially spherical balloon held by saidballoon receiving means, and a door member for opening said chamber inassociation with the operation for catching the balloon cap by saidballoon receiving means.

With the above construction, by opening the chamber, it is possible toinform the user that the balloon can be taken out of the chamber and toallow the user to take out the balloon with ease.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the whole structure of a balloonaccording to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the body of the balloon depicted in FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view showing a cap of the balloon depicted in FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing the cap of the balloon depicted in FIG.1.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a balloonvending machine suitable for dispensing balloons of the FIG. 1configuration one by one.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the outward appearance of the balloonvending machine depicted in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing the inner workings of the balloon vendingmachine depicted in FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a top view showing the turning range of a balloon transfer armof the balloon vending machine depicted in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a plurality of balloon stacking membersto be stored in the balloon vending machine depicted in FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing a part of the balloonstacking member depicted in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing chucking of a cap to a ballooncarried by the balloon transfer arm in the balloon vending machinedepicted in FIG. 8.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view showing the balloon transfer arm and theinside of the cap during the chucking operation depicted in FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view illustrating rotational movement of theballoon transfer arm and blowing of gas into the balloon after thechucking operation depicted in FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing how to take out the balloon afterthe gas-blowing operation depicted in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the usage pattern of the balloontaken out as depicted in FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the whole structure of a balloonaccording to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a bottom view showing the bottom of a cap attached to theballoon depicted in FIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is a plan view showing the configuration of a seal to be heldbetween a tube and the cap of the balloon depicted in FIG. 17.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing a first adhesive layer coated onthe seal of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a second adhesive layer coated onthe seal of FIG. 19.

FIG. 22 is a bottom view showing the bottom of the cap stuck with theseal of FIG. 19.

FIG. 23 is an exploded perspective view showing the positionalrelationship between the cap and seal depicted in FIG. 22 and how toattach a cord to the cap.

FIG. 24 is a front view illustrating the inner workings of a balloonvending machine suitable for dispensing balloons of FIG. 17 one by oneby one.

FIG. 25 is a top view showing the range of rotational movement of aballoon transfer arm of the balloon vending machine depicted in FIG. 24.

FIG. 26 is a plan view showing a folded balloon stored in the balloonvending machine of FIG. 24.

FIG. 27 is a top view showing a balloon storage box in which balloonsfolded as depicted in FIG. 26 are stacked and stored.

FIG. 28 is a sectional view taken along the line XXVI-XXVI in FIG. 27.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

To facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, adetailed description will hereinafter be given, with the accompanyingdrawings, of the best mode for carrying out the invention.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the whole structure of theballoon according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. 2 is aplan view showing the body of the FIG. 1 balloon; FIG. 3 is a top viewof a cap of the FIG. 1 balloon; FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken alongthe line IV-IV in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing the cap of theFIG. 1 balloon; FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the configurationof a balloon vending machine suitable for dispensing balloons of FIG. 1one by one; FIG. 7 is a front view showing the outward appearance of theFIG. 6 balloon vending machine; FIG. 8 is a front view illustrating theinner workings of the balloon vending machine suitable for dispensingballoons of FIG. 1 one by one; FIG. 9 is a top view showing the range ofrotational movement of a balloon transfer arm of the FIG. 8 balloonvending machine; FIG. 10 is a front view showing a plurality of balloonstacking members to be accommodated in the balloon vending machinedepicted in FIG. 8; FIG. 11 is an enlarged perspective view showing oneof the balloon stacking members depicted in FIG. 10; FIG. 12 is aperspective view showing chucking of a cap to a balloon carried by theballoon transfer arm in the FIG. 8 balloon vending machine; FIG. 13 is asectional view showing the balloon transfer arm and the inside of thecap during the chucking operation depicted in FIG. 12; FIG. 14 is aperspective view illustrating rotational movement of the balloontransfer arm and blowing of gas into the balloon after the chuckingoperation depicted in FIG. 13; FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing howto take out the balloon after the gas-blowing operation depicted in FIG.14; and FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing the usage pattern of theballoon taken out as depicted in FIG. 15.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the balloon 1 according to Embodiment 1 iscomposed of: a metal balloon body 3 that is inflated with an inert gas,such as helium gas, into substantially a spherical form; a tube 5extending from one portion of the balloon body 3; a circular gas inletport 7 made in the tube 5; a check valve 9 placed in the tube 5intermediate the gas inlet port 7 and the balloon body 3 to prevent abackward current of a predetermined amount of gas blown into the balloonbody 3 through the gas inlet port 7; a gas-injection cap 11 detachablymounted on the gas inlet port 7; and a cord 13 fixed at one end to thecap 11 and at the other end to the tube 5. The tube 5 is closed at itsend portion 5 a on the side opposite from the balloon body 3.Incidentally, known adhesives can be used for connecting the cord 13 tothe cap 11 and the tube 5, but it is preferable to use an adhesive ofrelatively high adhesion strength in view of the effect of preventingthe balloon 1 from flying away.

The cap 11 is composed mainly of a substantially cylindrical cap body15, a gas injection port 17 made in the cap body 15 axially centrallythereof, and a cord winding portion 19 formed concave radially inwardlyabout the periphery of the cap body 15, around which the cord 13 iswound.

The cap body 15 of the cap 11 has a planar bottom (one end face) 15 a tobe bonded to the outer surface of the tube 5 surrounding the gas inletport 7 and a planar top (the other end face) 15 b apart from the tube 5;the cap body 15 has a notch 21 formed on a portion thereof, and in thecord winding portion 19 at the position accessible from the notch 21there is formed a cord hole 23 through which to tie one end 13 a of thecord 13. The gas injection port 17 has a small-diameter portion 17 a forholding the tip end portion of a gas injector of the gas injection meansdescribed later on. Incidentally, known adhesives can be used forbonding the tube 5 and the cap 11 but, taking into account theirdisengagement after the inflation of the balloon with gas, it ispreferable to use an adhesive of relatively low adhesion strength.

The cap 11 of such a construction is detachably bonded to the gas inletport 7 of the tube 5 of the balloon 1. When the cap 11 is removed fromthe gas inlet port 7 after the injection of gas into the balloon, thecord 13 wound around the cord winding portion 19 is rewound therefrom toa long length so that a user may hold the cap 11 in its entirety throughthe extended cord 13, thereby making it possible to prevent that theballoon 1 now inflated with gas for buoyancy flies higher than required.The gas injection port 17 of the cap 11 forms circular finger grip meansespecially convenient for hooking a user's finger.

Next, a description will be given of the configuration of a balloonvending machine 31 suitable for dispensing balloons 1 on a one-by-onebasis.

As shown in FIG. 6, the balloon vending machine 31 according toEmbodiment 1 is composed of balloon selecting means 40, balloonarrangement means 50, balloon transfer means 60, gas injection means 70,balloon receiving means 80, balloon dispensing means 90, control means100, and a power supply 110. Each means will be concretely describedbelow.

The balloon selecting means 40 has, as shown in FIG. 7, a display panel41 mounted on the front of a cabinet 33 constructing the outerconfiguration of the balloon vending machine 31 and indicating displaycontents of balloons stored in the cabinet 33, and a plurality ofballoon selecting buttons (selecting operation parts) 43 correspondingto the display contents of the display panel 41. The balloon selectingbuttons 43 are each provided in correspondence to the kinds of theballoons stored in the balloon vending machine 31, and in the vicinityof each balloon selecting button 43 there is indicated the kind of theballoon corresponding to the balloon selecting button 43. Upon insertionof coin of a predetermined amount of money in a coin slot 45 made in thefront of the cabinet 33 as well, the balloon selecting buttons 43 lightup, enabling a user to select all the balloons stored in the balloonvending machine 31. When one of the balloon selecting buttons 43 ispressed by the user, a series of operations will start for dispendingthe balloon corresponding to the pressed button 43 as described lateron.

The balloon arrangement means 50 is formed by a plurality of balloonstacking members disposed in the cabinet 33. Each balloon stackingmember 51 is configured such that multiple caps 11 of unfolded balloons1, with the balloon bodies 3 yet to be inflated with gas, are stackedvertically in a space defined by four stacking rods 53 planted uprighton a substantially L-shaped base plate 52 as shown in FIG. 11.

The balloon transfer means 60 includes generally, as shown in FIGS. 8and 9, a cap holder 61 to be fit in the gas injection port 17 of the cap11 of the balloon 1, and a transfer arm 63 carrying the cap holder 61 atits tip end. The transfer arm 63 is vertically (the downward directionbeing indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 12) slidably supported on asupport shaft 65 planted upright on the cabinet 33, while at the sametime the arm 63 is designed to be horizontally rotatable over apredetermined range of angles. The cap holder 61 has formed therein agas injector 71 for injecting gas into the balloon body 3 through thegas injection port 17 of the cap 11; the cap holder having a nozzle-likeconfiguration as a whole. The gas injector 71 is connected to a gasreservoir 75 via a tubular gas supply passage 73 formed in he transferarm 63. The gas reservoir 75 is a gas cylinder disposed in the cabinet33 to store helium or similar inert gas. The gas injector 71, the gassupply passage 73 and the gas reservoir 75 constitute the gas injectionmeans 70. On the outside of the cap holder 61 at the tip end portionthere is mounted an O-ring 67 for providing enhanced hermeticity in thecontact between the gas injector 71 and the gas injection port 17. Inthe gas supply passage 73 there is disposed an automatic open/closecontrol valve (not shown) held under the control of the control means100.

In this embodiment, the balloon stacking members 51, which form theabove-mentioned balloon arrangement means 50, are each disposed in sucha manner that the caps 11 of the balloons 1 stacked in the space definedby the stacking rods 53 are located on the circumference of rotation ofthe transfer arm 63 as shown in FIG. 9. In Embodiment 1, as depicted inFIG. 10, three balloon storage sections 37 are displaced atpredetermined intervals on the circumference of rotation of the transferarm 63, and such balloon storage sections are stacked in three layers.The transfer arm 63 is adapted so that it moves down from above thestacking rods 53 and catches the stacked caps 11 of the balloons 1 in asequential order and that after catching the uppermost cap 11 it goes upto dispense one balloon 1 having the cap 11. To this end, the fourstacking rods 53 are divided into two pairs, which are arranged inparallel about the center of rotation of the transfer arm 63, andspacing of the stacking rods 53 is set according to the geometry of thegas injector 71 located at the tip end portion of the transfer arm 63 asdescribed later on.

The balloon receiving means 80 is formed by a cap catching arm (acatching member) 81 that catches the cord winding portion 19 of the cap11 of the balloon 1 transferred by the transfer arm 63 having turned inthe direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 14. The cap catching arm81 is disposed in a cylindrical chamber 91 in the cabinet 33. Thechamber 91 is openable in two directions through a contra-rotatable door(a door) 93. That is, the chamber is designed so that when the capcatching arm 81 of the balloon receiving means 80 catches the cap 11 ofthe balloon 1 held by the cap holder 61 of the transfer arm 63, the dooropens on the side near the balloon transfer means 60 while closing asubstantially rectangular opening 95 formed in the front of the cabinet33, and that after receiving the balloon, the door closes on the sidenear the balloon transfer means 60, allowing the chamber to be open tothe outside through the opening 95. The contra-rotatable door 93 iscomposed of two doors smaller in diameter than the chamber 91, and theinner and outer doors are each contra-rotatable in the directionindicated by the arrow C or D in FIG. 15. The chamber 91 and the opening95 are set large enough to take in or out therethrough the balloon 1inflated with gas. The chamber 91, the contra-rotatable door 93 and theopening 95 constitute the balloon dispensing means 90.

The control means 100 is disposed in the cabinet 33 at the top thereof,and it has a storage section 101 for storage of the correspondencebetween the balloon selecting means 40 and the balloon arrangement means50. The control means 100 is a microcomputer that responds to a selectsignal from the balloon selecting means 40 to drive and control theballoon transfer means 60, the gas injection means 70, the balloonreceiving means 80 and the balloon dispensing means 90, which performs asequence of operations for the selected balloon 1, that is, operationsfor transfer, inflation with gas, receiving and dispensing of theballoon 1.

The power supply 110 is to supply power to the balloon transfer means60, the gas injection means 70, the balloon receiving means 80, theballoon dispensing means 90 and the control means 100, and the powersupply is usually placed outside the cabinet 33. When the balloonvending machine 31 is used outdoors, the power supply 110 may be aportable in-house power generator.

Next, the operation of the balloon vending machine will be describedbelow.

In the first place, a plurality of balloon stacking members 51, such asshown in FIG. 11, is placed in the cabinet 33 of the balloon vendingmachine 31 as depicted in FIG. 8. Then, after inserting a coin of arequired amount of money in the coin slot 45 formed in the front of theballoon vending machine 31, a user presses a select button (not shown)for selecting the desired kind of balloon 1. At this time, in thecabinet 33 the transfer arm 63 turns as shown in FIG. 9, or movesvertically, to the position just above the balloon stacking member 51corresponding to the pressed select button (not shown).

Then, the transfer arm 83 descends toward the cap 11 of the desiredballoon 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 12, by whichthe gas injector 71 of the transfer arm 63 is inserted into the gasinjection port 17 of the cap 11, and the tip end portion of the gasinjector 71 is tightly fitted in the gas injection port 17 by the O-ring67 on the outside of the tip end portion of the gas injector 71(chucking operation). At this stage, gas injection is not performed yet.

Next, when the balloon 1 is brought into the chamber 91 by therotational movement of the transfer arm 63 through a predetermined anglein the direction indicated by the arrow B in FIG. 14, the cap 11transferred by the transfer arm 63 is caught by the cap catching arm 81in the balloon dispensing means 90. Then, helium or similar gas is fedfrom the gas reservoir 75 to the tip of the gas injector 71 through thegas supply passage 73 in the transfer arm 63 and is blown into theballoon body 3 via the check valve 9 from the gas inlet port 7 of theballoon 1 now held in communication with the gas injection port 17,inflating the balloon body 3 into a predetermined substantiallyspherical form (gas injecting operation). During the gas injectingoperation the contra-rotatable door 93 of the balloon dispensing means90 is closed and protrudes outwardly of the cabinet 33 as shown in FIG.9.

Next, the contra-rotatable door 93 is turned in the direction of thearrow C in FIG. 15 to open the opening 95, and the inflated balloon 1 istaken out of the chamber 91 through the opening 95. Then, the cap 11 ofthe thus taken out balloon 1 is removed from the tube 5 by a user, andthe cord 13 is unwound from the cord winding portion 18, and the gasinjection port 17 of the cap 11 fixed to the lower end of the cord isused as a finger grip by the user.

As described above, according to Embodiment 1, the balloon is configuredto includes the balloon body 3 to be inflated with gas intosubstantially spherical form, the tube 5 extending from a part of theballoon body 3 and closed at its end 5 a, the gas inlet port 7 formed inthe tube 5, the check valve disposed in the tube 5 intermediate the gasinlet port 7 and the balloon body 3, the gas injecting cap 11 detachablymounted on the gas inlet port 7, and the cord 13 fixed at one end to thecap 11 and at the other end to the tube 5. Accordingly, the cap 11removed from the balloon of which gas pressure is maintained by thecheck valve 9 after the injection of gas can be used as a finger pieceas a whole to hold the balloon 1 through the cord 3, producing theeffect of ensuring prevention of the gas-filled and hence buoyantballoon 1 from flying away.

According to Embodiment 1, the cap 11 includes the substantiallycylindrical cap body 15 , the gas injection port 17 bored through thecap body 15 centrally thereof, and the cord winding portion 19 formedabout the periphery of the cap body 15. When the cap 11 is removed fromthe gas inlet port 7, the gas injection port 17 of the cap 11 serves asfinger grip means for holding the balloon 1 through the cord 13 unwoundfrom the cord winding portion 19. Thus, the gas injection port 17 of thecap 11 disengaged from the balloon 1 of which gas pressure is maintainedby the check valve 9 after the injection of gas functions as finger gripmeans, enabling a user to hold the balloon 1 via the cord 13, producingthe effect of ensuring prevention of the gas-filled and hence buoyantballoon 1 from flying away.

According to Embodiment 1, the cap body 15 of the cap 11 has the planarend face 15 a on the side near the tube 5 and the planar end face 15 bon the side opposite thereto, and hence, by stacking the caps 11attached to multiple balloons 1, it is possible to store a large numberof stacked balloons in a small space.

According to Embodiment 1, the cap 11 has the notch 21 in the cap body15, and in the cord winding portion 19 at the position accessible fromthe notch 21 there is formed the cord hole 23 through which to tie oneend of the cord 13 to the cap, allowing ease in tying one end of thecord 13 to the cap through the cord hole 23 during fabrication.

According to Embodiment 1, since the small-diameter portion 17 a isprovided in the gas injection port 17 of the cap 11 to support the tipend portion of the gas injector 71 of the gas injection means, the capholder 61 of the balloon transfer means 60 can securely be fitted in thegas injection portion 17 of the cap 11. This ensures leak-freeintroduction of gas into the gas inlet port 7 of the balloon 1 from thegas injector 71 held in the cap holder 61.

According to Embodiment 1, the balloon vending machine is provided withthe balloon arrangement means 50 for arranging multiple caps 11 ofballoons 1, the balloon selecting means 40 for selecting one of theballoons 1 arranged by the balloon arrangement means 50, the balloontransfer means 60 for holding and transferring the cap 11 of the balloon1 selected by the balloon selecting means 40 from the balloonarrangement means 50 to a predetermined position, the gas injectionmeans 70 for injecting gas through the cap 11 into the balloon 1transferred by the balloon transfer means 60 to the predeterminedposition, the balloon receiving means 80 for receiving the cap 11 of theballoon inflated with gas by the gas injection means 70 intosubstantially spherical form, the balloon dispensing means 90 fordispensing the balloon 1 held by the balloon receiving means 80, and thecontrol means 100 for controlling the operations of the balloon transfermeans 50, the gas injection means 70, the balloon receiving means 80 andthe balloon dispensing means 90 on the basis of the selection by theballoon selecting means 40. Therefore, the balloon vending machine iscapable of dispensing, one by one, user's desired balloons 1 in inflatedform.

According to Embodiment 1, since the balloon stacking members 51 areprovided for arranging in layers the caps 11 of stacked balloons 1, itis possible to dispense the balloons 1 one by one in order of stackingfrom uppermost to lowermost.

According to Embodiment 1, since the balloon selecting means 40 isprovided with the display panel 41 indicating display contents of theplurality of balloons 1 arranged by the balloon arrangement means 50 andthe select buttons 43 corresponding to the display panel 41, it ispossible for the user to take out the desired balloon 1 without fail.

According to Embodiment 1, since the balloon transfer means 60 has thecap holder 61 which fits into the cap 11 of the balloon 1, and the gasinjection means 70 has the gas injector 71 formed integrally with thecap holder 61 of the balloon transfer means 60, the gas reservoir 75 forstoring gas and the gas supply passage 73 for supplying therethrough thegas from the gas reservoir 75 to the gas injector 71, it is possible toensure required gas injection into the balloon 1 transferred by theballoon transfer means 60 and to perform the transfer of the balloon 1and the inflation of the balloon 1 with gas smoothly and rapidly,permitting reduction of the user's waiting time.

According to Embodiment 1, since the balloon receiving means 80 isprovided with the cap catching arm 81 for catching the cap 11 of theballoon 1 on the outer side thereof, the balloon 1 held by the balloontransfer means 60 can be gripped one the outer side the cap 11, not theinside thereof. This permits smooth and fast transfer of the balloonfrom the balloon transfer means 60 to the balloon receiving means 80,reducing the user's waiting time.

According to Embodiment 1, the balloon dispensing means 90 includes thechamber 91 for accommodating a substantially spherical balloon 1 held bythe balloon receiving means 80, and the contra-rotatable door 93 foropening the chamber 91 in association with catching of the cap 11 of theballoon 1 by the balloon receiving means 80. Therefore, by opening thechamber 91, it is possible to inform the user that the balloon 1 can betaken out of the chamber and to allow the user to take out the balloon 1with ease.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the whole structure of the balloonaccording to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; FIG. 18 is a bottomview showing the bottom of the cap secured to the balloon of FIG. 17;FIG. 19 is a plan view showing the configuration of a seal to besandwiched between a tube and the cap of the balloon depicted in FIG.17; FIG. 20 is a perspective view showing a first adhesive layer formedon the seal of FIG. 19; FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing a secondadhesive layer formed on the seal of FIG. 19; FIG. 22 is a bottom viewshowing the bottom of the cap stuck with the seal of FIG. 19; FIG. 23 isan exploded perspective view showing the positional relationship betweenthe cap and seal shown in FIG. 22 and how to tie a cord to the cap; FIG.24 is a front view illustrating the inner workings of a balloon vendingmachine suitable for dispensing balloons of FIG. 17 one at a time; FIG.25 is a top view showing the range of rotational movement of a balloontransfer arm of the balloon vending machine depicted in FIG. 24; FIG. 26is a plan view showing folded balloons to be stored in the balloonvending machine of FIG. 24; FIG. 27 is a top view showing a balloonstoring box in which the folded balloons depicted in FIG. 26 are storedin stacked layers; and FIG. 28 is a sectional view taken along the lineXXVI-XXVI in FIG. 27. Incidentally, those of constituent elements ofEmbodiment 2 which correspond to those in Embodiment 1 are identified bythe same reference numerals as those in the latter and no descriptionwill be given of them.

A feature of Embodiment 2 resides in that a seal 171 held between thecap 11 and the tube 5 is included in the balloon 1. The seal 171 isformed, as shown in FIG. 19, by an annular sealing member 173 and a tab175 extending from the sealing member 173. The sealing member 173 hasformed centrally thereof a central hole 173 a which communicates withthe gas injection port 17 of the cap 11. On the other hand, in thebottom 15 a of the cap 11 there is cut, as shown in FIGS. 18 and 22, anannular groove 177 for positioning the sealing member 173 of the seal171.

On one side of the sealing member 173 of the seal 171 there is coated afirst adhesive layer 179 as depicted in FIG. 20. On the other side ofeach of the sealing member 173 and the tab 175 there is coated a secondadhesive layer 181 as shown in FIG. 21. The first and second adhesivelayers 179 and 181 can be formed using known adhesives, and the sameadhesive may be used for the both adhesive layers; however, the firstadhesive layer 179 may preferably be formed using an adhesive ofrelatively low adhesion strength in view of easy removal of the cap 11from the tube 5, whereas the second adhesive layer 181 may preferably beformed using an adhesive of relatively high adhesion strength since firmfixing of the cord 13 and the tube 5 can be expected to prevent theballoon 1 from flying away.

Next, a description will be given below of the configuration of theballoon vending machine 31 suitable for dispensing balloons 1 one byone.

The balloon vending machine 31 of this embodiment differs fromEmbodiment 1 in the method of arranging balloons. That is, a balloonstorage member (a balloon storage box) 183 of the balloon vendingmachine 31 is adapted such that balloons 1 with balloon bodies 3 foldedin substantially rectangular form as shown in FIG. 26 are stacked in,for example a paper box 185 as shown in FIGS. 27 and 28. The box 185 hasa lid 187 and during distribution it is covered with the lid andpackaged, but when it is stored in the balloon vending machine 31, thelid 187 is cut off the box 185. In the balloon vending machine 31 thereare stored four rows of such balloon storage members 183 stacked in fivelayers as shown in FIG. 24, and one row of the balloon storage members183 is disposed with the caps 11 of their stored balloons 1 held on thecircumference of rotational movement of the transfer arm 63. Since theoperations of this balloon vending machine 31 are the same as inEmbodiment 1, no description will be repeated.

According to Embodiment 2, the balloon further includes the seal 171sandwiched between the cap 11 and the tube 5, and on one side of theseal 171 there is formed the first adhesive layer 179 by which the cap11 is detachably mounted on the tube 5, and on the other side of theseal 171 there is formed the second adhesive layer 181 for fixing thecord 13 to the tube 5. Thus, by distinguishing the adhesive for bondingthe tube 5 of the balloon 1 and the cap 11, and the adhesive for bondingthe tube 5 of the balloon 1 and the cord 13, it is possible to selectthe adhesive corresponding to the adhesion strength required for eachbonding.

According to Embodiment 2, the seal 171 includes the annular sealingmember 173 of about the same shape as one end face of the cap body 15 ofthe cap 11 and having the first and second adhesive layers 178 and 181,and the tab 175 extending from the sealing member 173 and having onlythe second adhesive layer 181. Such reduced area of bonding between theseal 171 and the cap 11 facilitates the removal of the cap 11 from thetube 5 of the balloon 1, while at the same time the increased area ofbonding between the seal 171 and the cord 13 makes it hard to disengagethe cord 13 from the tube 5 of the balloon 1.

According to Embodiment 2, the other end of the cord 13 is fixed to thetube 5 by the second adhesive layer 181 formed on the sealing member 173of the seal 171, and the portion of the cord 13 in vicinity of the otherend thereof is fixed to the tube 5 by the second adhesive layer 181formed on the tab 175. Therefore, the other end portion of the cord 13can be firmly fixed to the tube 5 of the balloon 1 by the secondadhesive layer 181 of the tab 175, ensuring prevention of the balloon 1from flying away. Furthermore, since the other end portion of the cord13 is fixed to the second adhesive layer 181 formed on both of thesealing member 173 and the tab 175, the gas-filled and hence buoyantballoon can be held upright, by which when the balloon 1 bears displaysfor advertisement or publicity, the intended advertising or publicityeffectiveness can fully be achieved.

According to Embodiment 2, since the cap 11 has the positioning groove177 for sticking the sealing member 173 of the seal 171 to the cap body15 by the first adhesive layer 179, it is possible to accurately stickthe sealing member 173 of the seal 171 to the cap body throughutilization of the groove 177, ensuring prevention of the gas inlet port7 of the balloon 1 from partial closure by misregistration of the seal171.

According to Embodiment 2, since the balloon vending machine is providedwith the balloon storage section (the balloon storing box) 183 in whichfolded balloons 1 are arranged with their caps 11 stacked, the balloons1 can be dispensed one by one in order of stacking, and folding of theballoons 1 enables the stacked balloons 1 to be stored in compact form,increasing the amount of storage of balloons 1. While in Embodiment 2the balloons 1 each provided with the seal 171 are stored in folded formin the balloon vending machine 31 shown in FIG. 24, they may also bestored in the balloon vending machine 31 depicted in FIG. 8; conversely,the balloons 1 according to Embodiment 1 may be stored in folded form inthe balloon vending machine 31 shown in FIG. 24.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the balloon vending machine according to the presentinvention can be used to distribute or sell, for example, aluminumballoons automatically inflated with gas one by one.

1. A cap structure for a balloon comprising: a metal balloon body to beinflated with gas into substantially spherical form; a tube extendingfrom one portion of the said balloon body, communicating with the insideof said balloon body and closed at the free end; a gas inlet formed insaid tube; a check valve disposed in said tube intermediate said gasinlet and said balloon body; a gas injecting cap detachably mounted onsaid gas inlet port; and a cord fixed at one end to said cap and at theother end to said tube.
 2. The cap structure for said balloon accordingto claim 1, wherein said cap includes a substantially cylindrical capbody, a gas injection port made in said cap body centrally thereof, anda cord winding portion formed about the periphery of said cap body; andwherein when said cap is removed from said gas inlet port, said gasinjection port of said cap serves as finger grip means for holding saidballoon through said cord unwound from said cord winding portion.
 3. Thecap structure for said balloon according to claim 2, wherein said capbody of said cap has a planar end face on one side facing said tube anda planar end face on the other side opposite from said tube.
 4. The capstructure for said balloon according to claim 3, further comprising aseal sandwiched between said cap and said tube, wherein a first adhesivelayer is formed on one side of said seal for detachably attaching saidcap to said tube; and a second adhesive layer is formed on the otherside of said seal for fixing the other end of said cord to said tube. 5.The cap structure for said balloon according to claim 4, wherein saidseal includes an annular sealing member of about the same shape as saidone-side end face of said cap body of said cap and having first andsecond adhesive layers, and a tab extending from said sealing member andhaving formed thereon only said second adhesive layer.
 6. The capstructure for said balloon according to claim 5, wherein the other endof said cord is fixed to said tube by said second adhesive layer formedon said sealing member of said seal and that the portion of said cord invicinity of said other end thereof is fixed to said tube by said secondadhesive layer formed on said tab.
 7. The cap structure for said balloonaccording to claim 5, wherein said cap has a groove indicating theposition where to stick said sealing member of said seal to said capbody by said first adhesive layer.
 8. The cap structure for said balloonaccording to claim 5, wherein said cap has a notch formed in said capbody and a cord hole for tying thereto one end of said cord in said cordwinding portion at a position accessible from said notch.
 9. The capstructure for said balloon according to claim 1, wherein said cap has asmall-diameter potion for holding the tip end portion of a gas injectorof a gas injection device in said gas injection port.
 10. A balloonprovided with said cap structure according to claim
 1. 11. A balloonstorage box comprising balloons of claim 10 arranged in folded form withtheir caps stacked.
 12. A balloon vending machine comprising: balloonarrangement means for arranging multiple caps of said balloons recitedin claim 10; balloon selecting means for selecting at least one of saidplurality of balloons arranged by said balloon arrangement means;balloon transfer means for holding and transferring the cap of saidballoon selected by said balloon selecting means from said balloonarrangement means to a predetermined position; gas injection means forinjecting gas through said cap into said balloon transferred by saidballoon transfer means to said predetermined position; balloon receivingmean for receiving said cap of said balloon inflated with gas by saidgas injection means into substantially spherical form; balloondispensing means for dispensing said balloon held by said balloonreceiving means; and control means for controlling the operations ofsaid balloon transfer means, said gas injection means, said balloonreceiving means and said balloon dispensing means on the basis of theselection by said balloon selecting means.
 13. The balloon vendingmachine according to claim 12, wherein said balloon arrangement meansarranges said caps with said balloons stacked.
 14. The balloon vendingmachine according to claim 12, wherein said balloon arrangement means isprovided with a storage section in which said balloons held in foldedform are stored with their caps stacked.
 15. The balloon vending machineaccording to claim 12, wherein said balloon selecting means is providedwith a display panel for indicating display contents of said pluralityof balloons arranged by said balloon arrangement means, and selectingoperation parts corresponding to the display contents indicated on saiddisplay panel.
 16. The balloon vending machine according to claim 12,wherein said balloon transfer means is provided with a cap holder whichfits in the cap of the balloon, and wherein said gas injection meansincludes a gas injector formed integrally with said cap holder, a gasreservoir for storing gas, and a gas supply passage for supplying gasfrom said gas reservoir to said gas injector.
 17. The balloon vendingmachine according to claim 16, wherein said balloon receiving means isprovided with a cap catching member for catching the balloon cap on theouter side thereof.
 18. The balloon vending machine according to claim17, wherein said balloon dispensing means includes a chamber foraccommodating said substantially spherical balloon held by said balloonreceiving means, and a door member for opening said chamber inassociation with the balloon cap catching operation of said balloonreceiving means.